She Waits For Me at the End
by Little Miss Slytherclaw
Summary: The apocalypse is upon the world, less than two years after Voldemort was defeated. The threat is intense. No one is safe. Everyone is worried. Padma hasn't been heard from, Parvati is scared and desperate, and Lavender ends up on her own. Apocalypse!AU. Warnings for major character death and mentions of blood.


**This was written solely for my wifey. I can't offer much for a birthday present, but I can give you some ParvatiLavender apocalypse angst? Happy birthday, m'love. May you find happiness (or... angst) in this fic.**

**Thank you, Elizabeth, for helping me with this. I couldn't have done my first apocalypse without you!**

**Warnings: Major character death, lots of death (its... the apocalypse), blood, decay, mentions of war**

**Word Count: 1991**

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**She Waits For Me at the End**

The End

Lavender was tired.

Fuck tired. Lavender was exhausted. Each limb felt as if it weighed a ton, pulling her back to the Earth full of decay and destruction. Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, and her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths.

She knew this was the end for her, but a part of her was okay with that. She knew that her love would be waiting on the other side, ready to greet her.

…

The Beginning

It didn't start with sirens and mass panic.

It started with a Patronus. The news of a father's death. The nauseous feeling in Lavender's stomach as she sank to the floor, Parvati's arms the only thing around her that refused to crumble.

They sat on the floor of their cottage for hours as Lavender cried, neither girl understanding the implications of what just happened. After the sun began to set, Parvati kissed Lavender's temple and prompted her to stand up. Together, they walked into the kitchen for a cup of tea.

It was hard for Lavender to drink past the lump in her throat, but she managed simply because Parvati asked her to. She sat at the table and ran the Patronus's words through her mind. Her father had been found on his route to work, skin covered in blackened blisters, and blood leaking from his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.

He wasn't the only one.

According to the Linx with Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice, eight of the old Order of the Phoenix had been found dead, along with roughly twenty Muggles.

The message hadn't been directed to her—it had been directed to the whole of the Order. It was an update, a warning, and a call to arms.

Voldemort hadn't been gone for two years, and a new threat had already surfaced. One much deadlier than Voldemort.

…

The End of the Beginning

The mass panic came a few days later, when people by the hundreds began to get sick. News networks, Muggle and magical, from all over were looking for a cause, looking for a cure.

But there was nothing. Only dead bodies in the streets, covered in black wounds and blood.

The old Order of the Phoenix had been reduced to ten members, Lavender and Parvati included. They communicated via Patronus, but the reports were always the same:

_Hundreds more have died. Virus is believed to be airborne. Stay indoors. Stay safe._

The government seemed to be doing nothing. Hospitals were nothing more than overcrowded barracks filled with employees in hazmat suits, every patient dying. The Statute of Secrecy had broken as Ministry workers, Aurors, and old Order of the Phoenix members alike went around, trying to purify the air, or trying to lock off certain buildings to keep the virus from entering.

Nothing seemed to be working.

On the day that Harry Potter himself was reported to be dead, the very idea of hope just disappeared.

…

The Middle

"Muggle news say that over four million have died in London," Parvati whispered one night, only a week or so after the virus first showed up. She was holding Lavender tight, their television screen displaying just static. The TV set was one of their favorite Muggle creations, but neither girl could bring themselves to enjoy it as of late.

After Voldemort had fallen, the two of them had moved to a small, Muggle town, and had adapted into near Muggle life. They both kept their wands, but they rarely interacted with the Wizarding World.

Aside from keeping up with a few friends, and receiving updates from the old Order.

"Pav," Lavender said softly, looking up at her girlfriend. "You should be sleeping instead of watching the news."

Parvati stared blankly at the screen, prompting Lavender to shift so she was straddling Parvati's lap, gently cupping her cheeks. "Talk to me," she begged, her voice barely a whisper. "We won't make it through this if you don't tell me what's on your mind."

She felt Parvati shift under her hold, and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Padma," Parvati managed, closing her eyes. Lavender mentally cursed herself for not thinking of her girlfriend's twin. "She hasn't sent a Patronus, an owl, a letter, a phone call. Nothing."

Lavender didn't know what to say, or how to help. A sinking feeling permeated her stomach, but she stroked Parvati's cheek in spite of it.

Parvati wasn't finished. "She's alive," she insisted softly, finally opening her eyes to look at Lavender. "I know she is."

Despite not being so sure, Lavender nodded. "Okay. We… We will find her."

That was all that was said on the subject, but as the two girls laid in bed that night, wrapped in each other's embrace, neither could get Lavender's promise out of their heads.

It was both a lifeline and a deathwish. But it didn't matter. They _would_ be going to London to search for Padma. They _wouldn't_ leave without her.

…

Packing up was weird. Neither Parvati nor Lavender spoke, aside from a quiet "Do you think we will need these?" or a gentle "Pass that over to me. I have more room in my bag." They simply packed backpacks equipped with extension charms, focusing only on the task at hand.

They packed clothes, a first aid kit, dry food, refillable water bottles, a tent, and anything else the girls thought they might need. Which wasn't much. They felt under prepared, but both were ready to move out of the safety of their cottage and find Padma.

"Broom is the best way to go?" Lavender asked softly, shouldering her pack once it was filled up. She was dressed in jeans, tall boots, a plain shirt and a light jacket. A handkerchief was wrapped around her neck, and her long blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail. Parvati was dressed very similarly. They covered their skin as best as they could, despite the heat of the summer, knowing that the disease was airborne. They hoped that this and some charms would be enough.

Lavender had a sinking feeling that it wouldn't be.

After Parvati shouldered her own bag, she turned to Lavender. "Harry died, as gifted as he was, most likely by Apparating. We can't keep up cleaning charms during Apparation, but we can while flying."

Lavender nodded, though she wasn't too excited about it. Flying was never her favorite thing to do. A part of it was a fear of heights, another part was seeing how disastrous things could be in Quidditch if things went wrong.

That didn't matter, though. None of it mattered. She needed to be brave and strong, for Parvati if not for herself.

"Let's go, then. We finally get to use those brooms Ron bought us," she said, ignoring the slight pang in her chest at the thought of Ron. Not that she still had feelings for him—not by a long shot—but his name had been mentioned as one of the deceased. She didn't want to think about him, lying on the ground, body weak and covered in…

She shook her head to clear her mind. She and Parvati had a mission to accomplish.

…

The Beginning of the End

The broom ride was long and exhausting. Lavender's grip on her wand was starting to get shaky, but she needed it to keep up the bubble charm around her. Not that she knew if the bubble charm would protect her sufficiently enough anyways, but it had to be better than nothing.

Her vision was starting to get blurry as she stared at Parvati's back. Parvati had promised to lead the way, being the better of the two at navigation. It meant that Lavender knew they would make it to their destination, but it also made it much harder to talk to or alert Parvati of anything.

Even if it might be life threatening.

"Pav," Lavender attempted, her voice a little groggy with sleep. "Pav, I need to take a break."

It was no good. Parvati made no recognition of hearing her. Lavender tried again, this time a bit louder. "Pav, I need to land."

Parvati still flew forward.

Lavender sighed and followed suit, the grip on her broom tightening. She was sore, but it didn't matter. They only had a little longer to go. And, besides, maybe the discomfort would keep her awake.

Or maybe not.

She didn't remember falling asleep. She didn't even remember falling. All she remembered was the image of Parvati chasing after her, bubble charm forgotten.

…

Parvati's symptoms started showing up the next day. They had camped right below where Lavender had fallen and Parvati had caught her.

Extensive charms had been cast over the tent, but apparently it hadn't been enough. Apparently, that brief moment in time where Parvati had put all of her energy into saving Lavender and none into keeping the air around her clean, had been enough to condemn her.

"Don't touch me," Parvati begged, her fingers covered in blackened boils. She held her knees to her chest, her eyes filled with tears. "I can't let you get sick."

Lavender didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to think. So she sat, keeping her bubble charm up around her, silently cursing herself.

It was her fault that Parvati was dying.

…

That night, they received another Patronus—a list of old Order members confirmed dead.

Padma was on it.

They never got another Patronus after that.

…

"Promise me," Parvati whispered, her voice ragged and weak. She looked up at Lavender with red eyes, and it was all Lavender could do to keep from looking away. "Promise me that you'll live. That you'll look for a cure, and… save yourself."

Lavender shook her head, grabbing Parvati's hand. She hated the feeling of the bubble charm separating their skin. She missed Parvati's warmth, her softness.

"Promise me," she begged again, voice cracking. Her grip was weakening by the second.

Finally, after forcing back tears and swallowing bile, Lavender nodded. "I… I promise, Pav."

Parvati gave Lavender a small smile—it would have been sweet if it weren't for the blood staining her teeth—then let her eyes close.

She didn't open them again.

…

The End

Lavender tried. She really did. But she was tired.

She was so tired. Everything felt heavy.

She had made it to London, though she wasn't sure why. It wasn't like there was anything waiting there for her. Only dead bodies and rabid rats.

She walked the empty streets, stepping over the lumps that used to be people, her handkerchief covering her nose, doing little to block the smell of decaying flesh.

There was no shimmer of magic around her, no bubble charm. It wasn't necessary. Her symptoms had shown up the day after Parvati passed on. So she walked through Muggle London, the only living thing. The last of a dying breed.

She didn't know how other countries were faring. She hadn't watched the news since that last night in hers and Parvati's cottage. But did it really matter?

Lavender was exhausted. Each limb felt as if it weighed a ton, pulling her down into the Earth full of decay and destruction. Finally, after walking for hours in no particular direction, she let herself fall to her knees. Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, but when they trickled over her lips, she didn't taste salt—she tasted blood.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, tilting her head up to the grey sky above her. "I'm sorry, Pav. I couldn't do it. I couldn't keep my promise."

She knew this was the end of her. She knew that she was breaking her promise to her beloved. The beloved that she had condemned.

She knew this was the end for her, but a part of her was okay with that.

Parvati would be waiting for her on the other side, and maybe that's all that mattered.


End file.
